Difa an al-Sunna wa Radd Shubuhat al-Mustashriqin

Difa' 'an al-Sunna wa Radd Shubuhat al-Mustashriqin wal-Kuttab al-Mu'asirin (Defense of the Sunnah and Refutation of the Misconceptions of Orientalists and Contemporary Writers) is a work of hadith defense and polemical scholarship by the Egyptian Azhari scholar Muhammad Abu Shahba (1332–1403 AH / 1914–1983 CE), dedicated to establishing the authority of the Prophetic Sunna and refuting modern critiques against hadith literature and its early narrators Difa an al-Sunna wa Radd …+1.

Background and Composition

The genesis of the work traces back to Ramadan 1364 AH (August 1945 CE), when the Egyptian writer Mahmud Abu Rayya published an article in issue 633 of the journal al-Risala titled "al-Hadith al-Muhammadi", summarizing arguments from a forthcoming book Difa an al-Sunna wa Radd …+1. Abu Shahba published a rebuttal in issue 642 of al-Risala, urging him to reconsider his positions, to which Abu Rayya responded in issue 654 Difa an al-Sunna wa Radd …+1. In 1377 AH (1958 CE), Abu Rayya published his comprehensive book Adwa' 'ala al-Sunna al-Muhammadiyya (Lights on the Muhammadan Sunna) Difa an al-Sunna wa Radd …+1. In response to the widespread debate it generated, Abu Shahba composed detailed serialized refutations in Majallat al-Azhar, which were subsequently compiled and published in book form al-Anwar al-Kashifa lima …+1.

Contents and Structure

The book is structured around foundational discussions of hadith methodology followed by specific rebuttals Difa an al-Sunna wa Radd …+1:

• The Status and Authority of the Sunna: Demonstrates the rank of the Sunna in Islamic law, its role in clarifying the Quran, its capacity for independent legislation (istiqlal al-Sunna bil-tashri'), and its legal binding force (hujjiyya), while demonstrating the forgery of the report commanding the testing of hadiths against the Quran Difa an al-Sunna wa Radd …+1.
• Transmission and Methodology: Traces the preservation of hadith by the Companions, the question of writing hadiths during the Prophet's lifetime and following his death, the systematic compilation movement (tadwin), scholarly travel in search of knowledge (al-rihla fi talab al-'ilm), the conditions of accepted reports, and early critical methods applied to both chains of transmission (asand) and texts (mutun) Difa an al-Sunna wa Radd …+1.
• Refutation of Abu Rayya: A systematic critique addressing Abu Rayya's reliance on orientalist claims, his casting of doubt on solitary narrations (ahad), his denial of mass-transmitted traditions (mutawatir), his accusations against jurists of sectarian bias, his criticism of the Musnad of Ahmad ibn Hanbal, and his misattributions to classical authorities such as Ibn Qutayba and Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani Difa an al-Sunna wa Radd …+1. A significant portion is devoted to defending the Companion Abu Hurayra against charges of fabrication, lapses of memory, and partisan allegiance to the Umayyad Caliphate Difa an al-Sunna wa Radd …+1.

Publication History

The initial work was printed during Abu Shahba's lifetime and later reissued in Cairo by the Islamic Research Academy (Majma' al-Buhuth al-Islamiyya) at al-Azhar, including a second edition published in Safar 1406 AH (November 1985 CE) Difa an al-Sunna wa Radd …+1.

In 1409 AH (1989 CE), Maktabat al-Sunna in Cairo issued an edition combining three components in a single volume: the original defense; a previously unpublished second treatise by Abu Shahba titled Bayan al-Shubah al-Warida 'ala al-Sunna Qadiman wa Hadithan wa Radduha Raddan 'Ilmiyyan Sahihan, which the author described as the distillation of over a third of a century of his hadith studies; and a third treatise titled al-Radd 'ala Man Yunkir Hujjiyyat al-Sunna by Abd al-Ghani Abd al-Khaliq Difa an al-Sunna wa Radd …+1.